Growing Up
by Issue No 2708786
Summary: Sixteen year old Monkey D Garp.


Upon a dirt filled hill that was filled with unturned earth, a lean young man stood staring down towards the sea. He wore only a pair of white breeches, that had become so covered is dirt and mud it was hard to remembered that they were white.

He blinked and stared, black eyes seemed emotionless as he watched the ship sail into the new docks that were half way build. He reached up a hand and swiped away sweat off his brow and glanced up at the blue sky. There was not a cloud in sight.

Sighing he reached both hands up this time, and run his dirty hands through his semi long black hair, removing some loose strands from his eyes.

Sixteen year old Monkey D Garp glared at the new comers, knowing that they going to take over his job.

Garp glanced to the fields, his father and his brother were working hard.

Shandians as they were called, were friends of the village founder Foosha who meet these people during his travels from the Grand Line to move here in East Blue.

The whole area was jungle area, and for the past six year his father and the other older men in the village and levelled the places around the village for farmland.

Foosha thought it was time for the villagers to take a rest and build their own lives within the village; to find a place where they belong.

Garp's father had already claimed some land off to the right of the village and as soon as these Shandians came and settled, he and his father would go there.

"Garp!" He heard his father calling to him, "Come and help with here son!"

Garp nodded his head, even if his father did not see him; he hurried to what was to be his last day working the land.

XxxX

Garp sat upon his saddle his hips swayed along with the horse's slow trot. Along side his horse his four dogs walked.

Blinking against the new sun's ray, he saw he was nearing his village up ahead, it been been seven years seem he came to this island with his mother, father, brothers and sisters to help remove the overly large jungle trees that covered the land.

Garp was the middle child of thirteen others.

Garp smiled as he nodded his head to a fellow farmer. He had moved to a large plot of land just on the outskirts of the village that went right up to the cliff face; together with his father, their were building a house.

Garp had never been a house before, but he seen others when he first came here. His father at that time also build houses, but it did not take long before he was working around the village.

He glanced around, everywhere was flatten down now. He smiled as he remembered the small tents pitched up on the shore line. There were wooden docks there now, along with seventeen buildings.

Garp felt a sense of pride, he done this. He help build this village along side the older men.

And now he was going to help his father and brother build a house and a farm.

"This is exciting!" Garp declaimed with a bold grin as he leaned forward and patted his horse's mane, "Is that not right, Gluey?" Gluey his horse let out a small puff at the sound if her name, causing Garp's grin to widen.

Garp blinked when he noticed some Shandians walking along the dirt path that lean to the jungle, they had completely taken over the older work belong to his father and the other men. Garp glanced down, it had been two months since they came here, and he felt a little bit bad for not talking to them; he like everyone else, turned away from these people.

Garp sighed as he gazed down at the newly made road that connected all the farms and village together. The Shandians and the Islanders walked to different roads.

"Garp!" His father's voice called from ahead, the young man looked up and saw him walking along the road towards him, "Good morning my boy! So glad you could join us!"

Garp grinned at his father sheepishly, knowing he had over slept; it was nearing noon now.

"Sorry, sorry." Garp said as he sat up and leaned well forward and lift up one leg he swung it around the backside of the horse and dropped his body down. Once his foot was on the ground, he got the other down and turning he hurried over to his smiling father.

"Do not worry my son," His father smiled gently at him, the four days rushed over to the man and began surrounding him, "You had a busy day yesterday, I know you needed the rest." Garp held Gluey's reins and followed his father, who walking towards a building off of the road, with the dogs close at his heels.

Garp watched his father's back, staring at his father's long silvery blonde hair which he always had tied in a ponytail at the base of the neck.

Father and son looked nothing alike. Garp was thin and still growing taller; muscles was showing through that promised him to grow into a large man. His father was a normal build man but had some muscle due from his hard work.

Garp had a plane common face with black hair and black eyes, there was nothing outstanding about him. His father on the other hand, was very good looking. With deep blue eyes and that silvery hair, were the thing of dreams as Garp heard some woman talk; and highly intelligent Garp's father was said to be the perfect husband and father.

Garp had to agree. While he looked and acted nothing like the brilliant man, this man never turned him away and always called him son. Garp only noticed in the last few year how behind he was mentally, his brothers could joke saying that he may be sixteen, but he had the mind of a six year old.

Garp frowned at the memory, most his of brothers and sisters had elements of both they mother and brother. He was the only one who fully took after his mother, who was a little slow in thinking ability to put it kindly. Also with his looks, his mother was not a beautiful woman. Long black hair with black eyes, always grinning like an idiot as he heard those woman sayings again...

Garp blinked as he came to the building; his brothers were already inside, listening to the words of the eldest brother.

Garp quickly took a seat beside one if his younger brother, and listened. Or tried to listen he could feel himself pouted while thinking about himself and his brothers. Garp leaned back and glanced around at all his brothers, including him there were seven sons and a father sitting inside this hollow building.

Dlore was twenty-six and had been married to his wife for ten years, he had four children already with a fifth on it's way. And like all first born sons, he stood to inherit everything that was their father's, the house they were building was in view of Dlore's family. He was the image of their father in everything, and always looked after his younger brothers and sisters.

Second born was Vita and was a year younger at twenty-five, he asked his father for some money to set up a business and bought a ship for trade in spices. He had his father's blue eyes but his mother's black hair, a tall man who looked down on people. A complete opposite of their father personality. He only married a week ago, and that was only to further his business with the people in a town on the other side of the island.

The third born child was a daughter, she took after their father with looks. Steila was twin to Vita. She married when she turned sixteen; and lived on the other side of the island, in that town that was growing quickly into a city. The last the family from her, was when she had her second child two years ago.

The fourth child, but third son was Mes. A short simply man who was born just ten months after Vita and Steila. He was small man with short blonde hair and smiling blue eyes. He lived and worked with Dlore, because their mother asked him to continue to look after him seeing as herself and their father were getting older and need to support their younger children. He was married and had four children, both twins.

Twenty-two year old Ume was the fifth born child, and second daughter. She had rich long black hair which she let loose, with light blue eyes. She always appeared frowning at everything, she wed on her seventeenth birthday and gave birth with every year she currently had five children. All sons which she was quick to tell everyone.

Twenty year old third daughter and sixth child Hara was wild, unlike any normal woman who married as soon as they could, she was stills single and childless. Something that caused the villagers to frowned at; She also worked and own a bar on the docks, marking the woman in the village talk about her behind her back. She had shoulder weight blonde hair and grey eyes, she was the taller daughter so far of the daughters.

Garp was the seventh child born to his mother and father, and the forth son. He was sixteen and was courting no young lady at this time. For some reason he was the only child to take his mother's name, Monkey D while the rest had taken their father's Goa.

After Garp came fourteen year old twins sisters Li and Ji, who both had dark blonde hair and black eyes. No one but Garp and their mother could tell the two apart. One twin was being courted by a fisherman's son, while the other was being courted by a rich man's son in that town/city. They were to marry went they hit sixteen.

After that was the sixth son, twelve year old Nicen who had silvery blonde hair with blacker than black eyes, and like their father and Dlore, he grew out his hair very long.

Another son and the seventh was Max at ten years of age, he was already proving to be a bright child; he made himself friends in high places thanks to his older brothers and sisters who were in the ranks of that town/ city that was forming.

Poppy was the fifth daughter and twelfth child born, she was eight years of age and full of life, wanting to get into anything and everything. She had long blonde hair with dark blue eyes, she kept saying she wanted to be a mermaid when she grows up.

Jade was the last children she was five and soon turning six, she had long black hair with pale blue eyes. She followed her mother around everywhere, being the youngest she was spoiled rotten by everyone. Her father had already set his youngest daughter a 'prince' as he put it. To the mayor of the other town's son.

The Goa family were doing well for themselves.

"Garp!" Vita shouted loudly in his younger brother's ear, "Did you hear everything that was said?!"

"No..." Garp admitted as he blinked at his family members.

A few sighs were heard and some slapped their faces.

"We are moving!" Vita inform with a grin, "All the family are moving to High Town!"

"High Town?" Garp said with a frown, "What is this?"

Another round of sighs were heard.

"Wait!" Garp suddenly shouted as he stood, "What about our house we are building, and the farm? And what do you mean by family? Not the whole family surely!"

"Come with me," Vita snapped as he grabbed Garp by his upper arm and walked pulled him along until the younger was walking beside him, "I thought this meant happen, you never pay attention."

Garp hurried frowned deeply at his brother, Vita hated a lot of people but oddly enough he liked Garp and was willing to go and explain things to him.

"We renting the land out," Vita said as they neared the road, "And moving right in the centre of High Town, the upper part of Cockocks."

Garp snorted through his nose, the name of the other town never failed to make laugh.

"Cockrocks is the name of the founder," Vita went on the say, not caring about Garp's amusement, "When Jade and Bob gets married, they are taking _our_ name; Goa!"

"You mean _your_ name," Garp said as he glanced towards the village, "Mother wanted her name continued remember...or that was what they told me."

"You are still our brother,"Vita said firmly as he waved a hand over to a brick wall that separated the road to their land. The brother sat down, "Cockrocks said that he always admires our father and was excited when they made the promise of their children getting married-"

"I kind of feel sorry for Jade." Garp spoke up cutting his brother off, "I mean she so young, what if she changes her mind?"

"I hight doubt that," Vita said a bit of a laugh, "Mother and Father are teaching her to know better!"

"Mmmmm..." Garp hummed as he blinked and thought, 'Brainwashed more like.' Garp turned to a see a smiling Vita and noticed that he was waiting for Garp to stop talking. "Are we really moving in together? When you said the whole family, you meant the _whole_ family?"

"Yes, all of us." Vita grinned and leaned back to look at the sky, "It has been a long time since we all lived together. We bought a large house, and each room is the size of our house. There are sixteen rooms, each of us is going to have there own room. By age order."

"So I am going to have my own room that is the size of our house?" Garp asked with a frown, "You lot with your wifes and children I can understand, but me? And those after me?"

"We are going to upper class soon little brother," Vita said as stood and glanced towards the rest of the family, "We have lived through a lot, breaking our backs to make ends meet and now look! If we can live in a tiny tent for years, then we can live in a house room!"

"I like to keep things simply," Garp replied also standing and looking towards his family, "We really not do need things of things just to be happy. A roof over our heads, clothes on a back and food in our bellies; and each other."

Vita let out a sigh while shaking his head, "One day you will learn, before then I will make sure you get all that you need." With that he walked again and left Garp to his thoughts.


End file.
